Taste of the NFL, one of the most popular philanthropic Super Bowl events, is an annual strolling wine and food event featuring a chef from each NFL city serving their signature dish alongside a current or alumni NFL player. Guests can visit 35+ food stations of fine cuisine and meet renowned chefs and NFL players, all while raising funds for designated Feeding America food banks in each of the 32 NFL team cities.

Having operated its signature Party with a Purpose event at Super Bowl for over 25 years, Taste of the NFL was looking to expand its impact by growing beyond the Super Bowl event footprint. The organization’s goal was to create a season-long activation that would engage brand partners, capture a larger audience, and increase revenue.

Strategy:

WCPG worked with Taste of the NFL to expand the Kick Hunger Challenge, a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign that allows chef and player partners to create opportunities for fans to donate to their local food banks all season long. WCPG then created a partnership between Taste of the NFL and Walmart to activate the Kick Hunger Challenge in 500 Walmart stores nationwide. In addition to brokering a partnership with Walmart, WCPG brought on brands such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Quaker, Lipton, Tostitos, Doritos, Sabra, and Steak-umm to support and participate in the campaign, which consisted of branded shelving activations with partners, in-store interactive and engaging chef events with player appearances, and an online digital hub, all to help drive donations and promote awareness of the campaign.

Result:

Taste of the NFL’s activation of the Kick Hunger Challenge in Walmart stores across the country resulted in an additional 1.75 million meals donated, 96,000+ shopper interactions, 63,000+ recipe and cause information booklets handed out, 22,000+ page views to the digital hub, 24,000+ photo opportunity participants, and 218,000+ samples distributed for partner brands.